London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Who else could it be? Russian hackers suspected of taking Australian morning news broadcast off air

Who else could it be? Russian hackers suspected of taking Australian morning news broadcast off air

An Australian TV channel has said an "unprecedented" cyber-attack prevented it from airing its morning news program. Local media linked the incident to an upcoming anti-Putin segment.

Channel 9 CEO Mike Sneesby confirmed that a cyber-attack rendered the broadcaster unable to air its morning news show, ‘Weekend Today’, which runs between 7am and 1pm local time from its Sydney office. The channel’s 5pm news program also failed to air in Melbourne.

The company said in a statement that the hack “primarily affected our broadcast and corporate business units,” and that the channel’s staff was working to repair the damage. In its own news report, Channel 9 called the attack “unprecedented.” It added that the network's emails were also targeted, but did not appear to be impacted by the attack.

News anchor Richard Wilkins posted a photo of himself with bewildered co-hosts Rebecca Maddern and Jayne Azzopardi. “What’s happening? Well not much right now!” he wrote on Twitter.


Channel 9 has stated that it is too early to say whether the intrusion was conducted by a foreign nation. At the same time, Australian news website TV Blackbox reported that security experts told the network the hack likely came from Russia due to its “sophistication.”

TV Blackbox pointed out that Channel 9 has announced that the latest episode of its show ‘Under Investigation’ will focus on Russia. In a dramatic teaser for an episode set to air on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is called “one of the world’s most ruthless leaders,” as the show promises an investigation into whether he is “the mastermind behind the global web of poisonings.” The advert ends with a tagline: “Could Australia be next?”


The attack took place one day after a major outage of IT services in the country’s parliament. The Department of Parliamentary Services told reporters that the outage affected email, calendars, and contacts on smartphones and tables used by MPs. In some cases, there was no access to mobile devices for over 30 hours. An official investigation was launched into the incident.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
×